The Ninety-First Hunger Games
by EmJCon
Summary: It's the Ninety-First year of the games, and once again it's time to send 24 children into the arena to fight to the death. And to keep the Capitol happy, this year will go exactly as planned, or wrath will come. non beta'd. -SYOT OPEN-
1. Prologue

**A/N: Welcome to my first ever SYOT story for the Hunger Games! The tribute application for this will be on my profile, so you can make a character. I will only begin the story when I have all 24 tributes, so please get to submitting! You can put in a maximum of TWO tributes, no more.**

**Now for the beginning of the story, please enjoy! (I'm not a great writer, but hopefully I'll improve!)**

President Serum

The president of Panem stood quietly, staring intently at the large hologram forming a dome before him. Serum was a tall man, the look of a man who had once been strong and powerful but had now recently fallen to seed.

The president looked normal, compared to the freakish fashion of the Capitol. Serum's hair was grey, slowly turning to a pure white colour; the precise shade of snow. The rough beard covering his chin was the same colour. His eyes were a bright blue, with tinges of a yellow in them, looking like electricity. It didn't matter the man looked to be nearing his sixties. He was a dangerous force to be reckoned with.

Serum was standing in the room where most of the gamemaking work was done during the Hunger Games themselves. The dome before him was a map of the arena of the 91st Hunger Games. Ah, the games. The mere thought of them nearly brought a smile to the President's thin lips. The Hunger Games. Where the Capitol punished the Twelve Districts by sending two children from each of them into the games to fight to the death. A nice reminder to keep the horror of the Rebellion against the Capitol fresh in their minds.

Of course, the Games were a massive hit in the Capitol – excluding, that is, the ones that went horribly wrong. Of course, there was a particular system for the leaders of the ones that failed the expectations of the country.

Deep in thought, Serum didn't notice the man enter the room. He was young, in his mid-twenties, perhaps. He was shorter than the President slightly, but was by far stronger. He too did not have the abnormalities of Capitol fashion marked upon him. His hair was its natural shade of brown. His eyes were a hazel colour. He didn't look particularly dangerous. Of course, he was.

"You wanted to see me, President?"

The Gamemaker's voice too didn't have marks of the Capitol on it. He spoke with an accent similar to the Districts, as he had been raised in District Two. He became a Peacekeeper in that District, until he became a Capitol citizen and gamemaker.

"Ah, yes. Oneus." Serum's voice was icy cold. Perhaps it was naturally like that. Perhaps he had perfected it to be like that, seeing as it was the persona he enabled. "Quite an impressive job you've done here." His eyes still hadn't left the map of the arena.

"Thank you, sir." Oneus said. He looked slightly uncomfortable, like he didn't particularly want to be here. He knew that if the games went wrong, the President could easily kill him. He had a right to be nervous.

"Looking forward to this year, Oneus?" Serum asked, finally turning to look at Oneus.

The Head Gamemaker didn't look too thrilled with talking to Serum's face, but he answered somewhat calmly, "Of course, President. They've been a hit for almost a century. Now it's just my job to make sure it stays that way."

"I certainly agree with you." The president replied, a small smile forming on his lips. "And I wish you the best of luck. Hopefully these will indeed turn out well."

And with that, Serum strode from the room, thoughts of killing the young man himself if things went wrong flying around his mind.


	2. District One Reapings

**A/N: Here is my first ever Reaping! Sorry for the big delay from the prologue, exams have been stressful, but I'll hopefully find time to write more of this soon.**

**District One**

_Eleanor Agnes, D1 Escort_

Standing in front of the large crowd, no nerves were settling down within the Capitol Escort of District One. Nearly twenty years escorting varying Districts of Panem had trained her to not feel it anymore. This was her fourth year in District One, the location envied by all of the Escorts, where they all dreamed to be one day.

Slowly, hundreds of people were filling in the large town square before her, all of the children from twelve through to eighteen stood in roped off areas, divided by age and gender. On the outside, there were those either too young or too old for the Reapings, placing bets and generally talking. There was an excited murmur running through the air, ready for seeing the two children going into the games.

On the stage, in front of the District's Justice Building, was the Mayor of One and the eleven surviving victors from District One. Those twelve were all seated, while Eleanor stood in the center of the stage, in front of the microphone, between two enormous, identical bowls filled with white slips of paper containing the names of thousands of children.

Everyone seemed to be here, and a hushed silence fell over the square. Eleanor took a deep breath and stepped up to the microphone, which made silence come immediately. She put on a large, somewhat freakish grin and said, "Welcome! Welcome to the Reaping for District One in the Ninety-First annual Hunger Games!" She paused for effect and readjusted her stage grin.

"As usual, ladies first," She said, walking over to the girl's bowl. The tension could definitely be felt in the air now. It's like the whole district is holding their breath. She came back to the microphone, and said clearly, "The female tribute for District One in the Ninety-First Hunger Games is Pearl Gr—"

Halfway through saying the name, Eleanor was cut off by a voice in the eighteen year-old section shouting, "I volunteer!" An athletic-looking girl stepped out of the crowd and was brought up to the stage, flanked by Peacekeepers. Eleanor remained smiling as the girl reached the microphone. "Well, what's your name, dear?" She asked, holding the mic to her.

"Leilani Finnigan." She replied curtly, staring off into the distance. Eleanor nodded appreciatively and waited as the crowd applauded and whooped. When it died down, She went to the other bowl, just as full as its twin. Eleanor picked out a name deep at the bottom of the bowl, and slowly walked back to the microphone.

"The male tribute will be Ch—"

Again, she was cut off mid-sentence, also from an eighteen-year-old. This time, a handsome boy strode from the crowd and onto the stage before the Peacekeepers could reach him, and said into the microphone, "Trey Oliviera." There was a smirk on his face, making him look like the typical tribute who did well in the games. That's what District One was hoping, anyway.

"I present to you the tributes from District One for the Ninety-First Annual Hunger Games, Leilani Finnigan and Trey Oliviera!" Eleanor said, and the crowd roared its approval. "Now, shake hands, you two!" she added, and Trey and Leilani faced each other and briefly grasped hands. They both knew there was a large chance both of them would fall in the arena. It was just the question of when they would.

**A/N: Well, hope you enjoyed it! Thanks to Rosemarie Benson and August99 for Leilani and Trey. I'll try and get the next few out ASAP. :D Also, if you haven't submitted a tribute, please do! I have plenty of open spots left, so try and get them in if you want to. Please review! :)**

**-Em**


	3. District Two Reapings

**A/N: Changed this up from the last one, so it's all 3****rd**** person rather than from a specific POV. Might write the rest of these like this from now on. Anways, enjoy!**

**District Two**

As in District One, there is a high level of tension and energy circulating in Two. People are talking laughing, enjoying the day. Thousands of healthy children are standing in their roped off areas, the older ones at the front standing confidently, and towards the back looking nervous, but still making some conversation. The level of noise dies down as this District's Escort hops joyfully onto the middle of the stage.

The escort, Markus Berthshire, is in his usual strange getup, wearing bright, exotic colours. "Welcome to the District Two reapings for the Ninety-First Hunger Games!" he says in his high-pitched voice. He grins and looks around at the wide audience, his lime-green lips stretched almost to his ears, his long curly hair wobbling around dangerously on his head.

The people of District Two hardly care when the video explaining how the Hunger Games came to be is blared onto the stage. Young or old, everyone has seen it. They all know what it's about, having watched it from their very first Reaping that they attended, and every year for the rest of their life. When it finishes, there's a half-hearted round of applause, and Markus bounds back to the microphone, having stood back during the video.

"Well, now it's time to select the two brave children to enter the Hunger Games, representing District Two!" At these words, the whole District hold's its breath, waiting as Markus springs to the first of two bowls seated next to the microphone, quite oblivious to the tension being felt by all of the citizens of Two. "Our female tribute will be Aurelia Castia!"

There are a few gasps from the audience, then a girl from the thirteen-year-old section is walked up by four Peacekeepers. She reaches the stage and stands there nervously. As if on cue, a girl calls, "I volunteer!" A girl from the sixteen-year-old section is wandering up, a slight frown on her face. Markus bobs up and down on his heels, grinning. Aurelia is letting out a sigh of relief and slips off the stage unnoticed, since everyone's eyes are on the new tribute.

"And what would your name be?" Markus says, barely containing his excitement.

"Sitka Deb." She says, still frowning into the audience.

"Well, let's have a round of applause for District Two's female tribute, Sitka Deb!" Markus shouts, and is responded with a large amount of clapping and cheering. Once this dies down and Markus has readjusted his smile and hair, he continues, "Now for the male tribute!" He walks to the other bowl on the opposite side of the stage and picks out a name. "Tu—"

Halfway through the name, Markus gets interrupted by a shout of, "I volunteer as tribute!" from where the eighteen-year-olds are. A confident-looking boy strides up to the stage, a determined look on his face. "Dean Martinez." He says into the mic, his face hardly changing.

"Let's have a round of applause for our tributes for District Two, Sitka Deb and Dean Martinez!" Markus says, his words greeted by another loud round of applause. The two tributes behind him shake hands on his word, Dean still having the same look of determination, Sitka looking angry about something. At the very least, the actions of these two will be an excellent talking point for the viewers.

**A/N: Phew, well there we go. I'm tired, but managed to finish this. Think I'll start doing two reapings at a time from now on, rather than doing them one-by-one.** **Thanks to Miss Spring1 and CoffeeQueenDemigod for these two! ****But anyway, please review! :D**

**-Em.**


	4. District Three Reapings

**District Three**

So much different from Districts One and Two, the mood in Three was grim. Perhaps because the tributes were ruled out every year, seeing as they didn't have much physically. Though there had been some notable tributes who had outsmarted the others in some occasional years, the Capitol always tended to favour the larger, stronger, better looked-after tributes.

As the area prepared for the Reapings slowly filled, it was once again different from previous Districts. It all lacked the enthusiasm shown in the Career Districts, majority of the noise sourcing from the thudding of footsteps.

Once the population of the district had arrived, the escort, Thalia Saltcoats, walked onto the stage, footsteps echoing greatly, lacking the enthusiasm usually seen by the other districts. Even once she reached the mic, her smile looked more fake than usually seen by the Capitol's citizens.

"Well, welcome to the Ninety-First reaping for District Three." She said, her tone almost businesslike. "Now, ladies first!"

Once again with her footsteps echoing, she plucked a name from the first bowl. "Spencer Smith!" she called out to the audience. A girl walked out of the fourteen-year-olds section, a smile almost creeping onto her face, which was mirrored by Thalia.

Silently, she walked over to the second bowl, and the district went even more still. Another slip of paper was pulled out, and Thalia announced to the district, "Nathan Martinez."

At these two words, some small gasps were heard, most from the audience but one from the stage, coming from Spencer, whose eyes were trained on the boy walking from the other thirteen-year-olds to stand beside her.

"Now, let's give a round of applause for our two tributes from District Three, Nathan Martinez and Spencer Smith!" she said, and some half-hearted applause came from the crowd, though it was obvious nobody cared. _Just two more for the slaughterhouse_ was the thought in everyone's head. But the fun of the games would be that this could change as easily as anything. That was the way of the games.

**A/N: Well, another delay to this chapter, but here it is. Phew. I'll try to get D4 out by the next couple of days. But anyway, thanks to Jatastic for both of these tributes! Also, for anyone interested in still submitting, the males for D8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 are still available. I've taken the earlier ones that had no one on them, but those are available for now.**

**Thanks!  
-Em.**


End file.
